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Skyhook Robot Passes 1000 Foot Mark
JhohannaVH writes "MSNBC.com is running a story about yesterday's successful test of the Space Elevator!! Maybe it will become a reality after all." From the article: "This week's testing involved a 12-foot (4-meter) diameter balloon. Safety lines held by team members kept the balloon from floating away. The ribbon dangling from the balloon was made of composite fiberglass, with the robot lifter running up and down the tether ... During the day, the highest altitude reached by the balloon/ribbon/robot combination was 1,000 feet (305 meters). 'It gives us complete confidence that the mile goal is well within reach,' Laine said. Laine said that the Federal Aviation Administration has been very supportive and helpful in orchestrating their test flights. "
117,407,136 to go
1000 feet? Nice, a "space elevator" (circa 2005) almost two-thirds the way to the top of the Sears Tower (circa 1973).
This makes my launch of my Estes Andromeda a successful test of intergalactic travel.
If my elivator is in flight I think i'd decide that would be a good time to choose a religion.
Live according to the Categorical Imperative. If the Categorical Imperative tells you not to live by it... ignore it
...Stairway To Heaven was looping on the Muzak. Frickin' annoying!
"This lifter is much smarter than our previous versions. It's our 18th version..."
...
...?
Version 1 Logic: Go up.
Version 18 Logic: Go up.
aoeu
I've been editing the video from the 1,000-foot robot test. Since I've been busy lately with grant writing etc., I wasn't involved in activities like making the ribbon. So it wasn't until I was watching the video that I noticed the sentence written in block letters on the 2-inch wide ribbon (which alternates color in 50-foot strips of bright yellow and fluorescent orange) near the top:
ATTENTION PILOT: IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU'RE TOTALLY SCREWED.
Our sense of humor (or at least Nyein's) may not (or it may) be visible from far away, but it's there.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
s/successful test of a space elevator/successful test of a balloon/g
Look ma, I made it across the pool in an inner tube. I'm going to try the Pacific next!
But then there's the issue of taking the sharks up there too....
The other day, while at a bar, I told people that I can jump over the moon.
I'm proud to announce that today I jumped 2 feet- a critical proof-of-concept that demonstrates the feasibility of my claim. Maybe I'll be able to back it up after all!
The plane does, while strumming the lowest note ever played in human history in the process.
-PS
"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke